O2, GiffGaff network goes titsup for unlucky punters

Parts of the O2 network have fallen over leaving punters unable to make calls, send texts or surf the web from their gadgets.

An O2 spokesperson told The Reg that its systems are having problems detecting handsets. The outage, which started at lunchtime today, also affects operators that piggyback on O2's network, such as GiffGaff and Tesco Mobile.

"Our engineers are dealing with the problem as a priority and we hope to restore full service as soon as possible," he said.

The outage isn't discriminating by geography as customers as far apart as London, South Wales and Buckinghamshire were posting on O2's community boards that their phones couldn't connect to the network.

One punter in Nottinghamshire said they had no reception but their sister in the same house had full bars of signal.

Over on the forums of GiffGaff a company spokesman said the outfit was suffering an outage for voice, text and data.

"We are investigating the issue and hope to have it up and running as soon as possible," he said. "All users will experience intermittent voice and data for the duration. This will only affect active SIMs, so this won't stop new SIMs from activating." ®